Start-Date for Schools
Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, January 11, 2019 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler
Last session, two bills were introduced concerning the date schools start in Georgia. Representative Ben Stephens introduced H.B. 936 on Valentine’s Day requiring the school year to start no earlier than the third week in August. It didn’t pass, but the subject didn’t die.
On March 16th Senator Steve Gooch introduced S.R. 1068 that passed March 27th authorizing the creation of a senate committee to study the school-year calendar for Georgia public schools.
Senator Gooch expects committee research to answer questions such as these: Is a later school start date feasible; would families have better opportunities to vacation together; and would it increase the availability of summer jobs for teenagers?
By September the eleven-member study committee had been appointed and met for the first time in October. When Senator Gooch asked them why summer break had shrunk to two months, no one was able to answer. However, a Georgia Department of Education spokesman explained that the state DOE has no authority over school calendars, and DOE’s policy director said attendance calendars are timed around school testing. Since the State Constitution authorizes local control of education, legislators are optimistic that a state law governing the start- and end-dates for school attendance could be implemented without interfering with local control. State law requires 180 days of school instruction, but local boards of education schedule those days to fit community needs.
Most districts begin school in early August, but increasing numbers want to start in July. So far, the earliest start is the Fulton School System that began August 6th this year.
In December the Senate Research Office published the committee’s 17-page final report of eight recommendations and extensive suggestions for implementation. Beginning with a five-part recommendation to preserve local control, the committee recommends a longer summer break with fewer breaks during the year. The committee recommends implementation of appropriate dates for statewide testing; consultations and surveys of parents and educators about school calendars; coordination of school start dates with college and university calendars; statewide, consistent school start dates for better youth development; consistent school calendars that improve impact on the tourism and hospitality industries; and finally, longer summers that provide teens better opportunities for part-time jobs over longer periods.
No doubt, some of these recommendations will be offered in legislation. Until then, contact your legislators about establishing consistent school start-dates. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.